Days of Darkness
by Hvedrungsson
Summary: The world of TLK is dominated by prides of lions, with their leaders ruling the land as kings and queens not only over their own kind but all its other inhabitants. But that hadn't always been the case. Join Ahadi's sons as they listen to one of Rafiki's oldest stories about a dark age before the time of the lion kings and how it finally came to an end.
1. Chapter 1

**A father's sacrifice**

_Quick note before we start: With this story I'll try to tell you about some of my headcanon and -lore of the TLK universe. If this chapter leaves you with unanswered questions (and I'm sure it does, please ask, I'll try to answere them in the following chapters by working them into the story. Btw., this story is just a sideproject, so there won't be that many updates, but I already have the most important plot points and an ending in mind.  
_

_Well, what more to say, I hope you like it._

* * *

Thunder roared and lightning blazed through the dark clouds covering the sky as a single lion made his way through the stormy night. Due to the clouds it was hard to tell but surely it wasn't too long until dawn and he couldn't risk being caught by daylight. He had already failed on his hunt but wouldn't fail in returning to his mate to see his cub. He had promised to be there for her and for his offspring, to be the father their little family deserved.

Panting, he reached the den and slipped through the entrance, that was barely wide enough to let him pass. He had to crouch a little, then the short tunnel widened, allowing him to stand up. He shook the water out of his fur… and froze.

Instead of a slightly disappointed but still joyful greeting there was a quiet sobbing coming from the place where he had left his mate. Something was wrong, terribly wrong! With rising fear, he approached her.

"I… I'm so sorry", she sobbed, as she noticed him. Her face soaked in tears she looked down at her paws.

"No… Oh, Kunja…" Incapable of finding the right words he simply rubbed his head against her wet cheek. Then he looked at the two cubs laying between her forelegs.

"They… they're both males", Kunja cried in despair. "I'm so… so sorry, Puku…"

"No… no, don't be, my love!" Although he felt desperation crawling into his mind, he nuzzled her head, trying to comfort her. "Who would have thought…"

"We should have thought!", she sobbed. "It happened to the leader's mate too, and now… When they find out…" Another flood of tears stopped her from continuing.

"M… Maybe…", he tried, but she interrupted him immediately.

"Spare me with impossible hopes! They will find out, they always do! One of the others saw them yesterday! It's only a matter of time until they come here and when they arrive… They'll demand blood!"

"We have to hide them!" He looked at his sons. "At least one of them, and when they find out there was a second one, we tell them he didn't survive and…"

"No, you won't!" A voice sounded from the entrance.

Shocked, Puku turned around to find the pack leader standing behind him, in his eyes the same fear that he felt himself.

"I can't allow that! We all heard what happened to the neighboring pack when they tried to betray the king… They were slaughtered, everyone! You have my honest compassion, believe me, but for the sake of this pack I cannot allow you to do that."

"Please, we…"

"NO! And that is my last word!" With that said, the leader turned around and began to crawl out of the cave. Just in the moment his head must have popped out into the open, a loud voice sounded, that shattered all hopes that were left.

"GOOD MORNING SUNNSHINE!"

A scream was heard and in front of Puku's eyes, his leader was ripped out of the cave.

"Oh, stop whining and get up!", the voice laughed, then it continued even louder. "WE KNOW YOU'RE HERE, LIONS! SO, COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE! Come on, buddy encourage your pack a little!"

"L-Listen to them." The leader's usually harsh voice sounded more like a whining as he followed the order.

"Stay here!", Puku said to his mate and began to crawl out of the cave. "And don't make a sound!" The first thing he noticed outside, was the sunlight, that bathed the area in a reddish glow. Then, he saw them.

They were five. The short manes the males possessed, didn't extend all around their neck but simply began on top of their slightly elongated heads, ran down their spine and ended shortly behind their shoulders. Judging by the height of their hips they weren't bigger than lions, but due to their longer forelegs they were taller by a head. Their legs were muscular and armed with claws that could never be fully sheathed. Their jaws presented canines twice as long as a lion's. Terrorcats.

Two of them – both females – sat next to the lions' pack leader, who had a bleeding cut running all over his face.

"Hello ladies! If you'd be so kind to line up over there?" The biggest terrorcat – indisputable a male – stood next to another den from which a few lionesses hesitantly emerged. With one of his front paws he gestured them to keep moving and when the last of them passed him, he smacked her behind with his paw, what made her whine. "Beautiful girls!" He grinned at the pack leader. "All yours, fuzzy?"

"Oh!", one of the females guarding the lion said. "I didn't know an ugly furball like you could make something this pretty." She rubbed her head against his, enjoying his fear and confusion.

"And I guess these also are yours?", the large male pointed at another female carrying two cubs in her snout.

"Y-yes, my lord", the leader quietly answered.

"So, he's quite fertile too", the other female joined her companion in taunting the lion. "Or too fertile? Well see about that, huh?" She bumped her shoulder against his.

"All right, now everyone, line up next to your leader's girls!", the male went back to business.

"You heard him!" Another terrorcat walked up to Puku, who had watched the scene from in front of his cave. He was just about to follow the order, as suddenly a meow sounded from the cave. It was quiet, but not quiet enough. "Wait a second…" An evil grin appeared on the terrorcat's face. "Damu, over here!"

Before he could react, Puku was tackled to the ground and grabbed by the neck.

"Well, well, what have we here?" Damu, the big male and leader of the terrorcats slowly waked up to him. "I think I remember you from our last visit, you are… well, I don't care who you are, but back then you were with that girl, right?" He bent down in front of the cave and sniffed, then his smile became even wider. "Come out darling, or I'll have your pack mates dig you out. Oh, and bring your cubs. I'll count down from ten, ok? Ten… nine… eight…"

Sobbing, Kunja obeyed and a few moments later she, her mate and their newborn cubs were lined up next to the others.

Slowly, Damu walked up and down the line, then he turned to the pack leader. "Well… I see, some old faces are gone and some new faces have come… but oh, boy, what can I say? No matter how often I count… They're more males than last time!"

"Th… That's…"

"Oh, spare me with any explanations! One lion too many is one lion too many!", Damu shouted. "You know the law! You all know! And you know the consequences!" Despite the anger in his voice he couldn't hide his smile when he walked back to Kunja. "Judging by their size, yours are the youngest. Have you chosen already?"

Instead of answering, Kunja simply sobbed and pulled her cubs closer to her.

"That's what I thought", Damu mercilessly growled and lifted a paw, alternately pointing at the two. "So, I guess I'll take…"

Suddenly, Puku made a decision. Since they had found the cubs, he had thought about it and now came to the conclusion, that there was no other way. He jumped out of line and shielded his mate and cubs with his body.

"How dare you!", Damu shouted enraged and bared his teeth, ready to pull him away.

"Please, my lord!", Puku panted. "Spare them! If you have to do this, take me instead!"

For a moment not a single sound other than the thunder of the storm that was slowly driven away by the wind was heard.

"Are you serious?", Damu asked, confused by the lion's offer. Then he laughed. "Well, I don't know what they told you, but can make more than two cubs. Maybe next time they're girls. And you don't even know if these survive. Maybe they'll die tomorrow. Or your pack gets attacked and you're not there to defend them."

"I know that", Puku replied. "But still, take me! Spare my sons. I beg you."

"Weird." The terrorcat turned around. "That never happened before. Uhm, are there any protocols for a case like this?", he asked one of his companions.

"I… guess not", the other terrorcat answered.

"Well, in that case… You know…" He turned back to Puku. "Usually we take the youngest, but I like your persistence. I accept your offer. Get up!"

Swallowing heavily, Puku stood up. One last time he looked at his cubs, then he met Kunja's eyes, shrouded with tears. "Keep them save", he whispered into her ear, as he nuzzled her goodbye. "Make it worth it. And tell… tell them, I loved them." With that he turned around and passed Damu, who gestured him to move towards the other terrorcats.

"Name them Taka and Mafuu, to honor your mate's crappy decision", the terrorcat commanded Kunja. "And don't worry, I'll find out if you don't." Then he followed Puku. "Bow down", he growled at him and grinned as he looked down on the lion's exposed neck. Damn, he loved his job!

* * *

_AN: Just for clarification: although "Terrorcat" would be a fitting translation for the Dinofelis, they are meant to be a fictional species based on the Homotherium, a sabercat that once roamed the african savannah._

_A little funfact: Actually, the idea of theis story was the result of a writers-block concerning tRoU and an overdosis of Finsterforst's "Zerfall" and "Ecce Homo". Somehow that combination awakened the inresistable urge in me to write a TLK origin story..._

_I had this in stock for a while now as some sort of buffer, but today I spontanously wrote chapter 3 (yes, 3) so I thought why not releasing chap 1 now?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Storytime **

"Taka…Really?" A touch of annoyance could be seen on his face as one of the lions – an adolescent male with a reddish coat – sat up and looked at the monkey. "Rafiki, please, don't do this to me."

"Do what?", the baboon asked raising an eyebrow.

"Name your characters after me. After us." With a vague gestured he pointed at himself and the others that had gathered to listen. "Muffy and Taka? And let me guess, their future mates would be Sarafina and Sarabi? I admit it, I like your stories, but we're no cubs anymore who like them better if they hear their own names in them."

"Well, I don't mind it", said Sarabi, who leaned against Mufasa's muscular shoulder. "Actually, I have to say, I like it. It feels… kind of nostalgic, don't you think, Muffy?"

"Mhm." Her mate slightly shifted his weight, to get into a more comfortable position, while she snuggled into his mane.

It was moments like these, when Taka didn't envy his brother for the mighty hair around his neck. If he looked the same, Sarafina would probably try to emulate her friend… He rolled his eyes, imagining him and her cuddling like his older brother and his mate. Only in her dreams…

Kindly, Rafiki smiled at his listeners. "I'm sorry, my prince. I didn't mean to upset you. And thank you for your lovely words, Sarabi. But I'm afraid, you both got me wrong. The names I am using are the ones the legend tells us. The pitiful young mother truly named her cubs Taka and Mafuu after her mate bought both their lives with his own."

Slightly embarrassed, Taka nodded. He felt a little dumb, especially now that he noticed that he had misheard the latter name. Luckily for him, someone else caught the attention of the attendees.

"Rafiki?", Sarafina shily asked. "Actually, that's something I don't really get… Sure, terrorcats already sound mean but why would they want to kill innocent cubs? That's gruesome! And, what even is a terrorcat? I've never heard of them before."

"Me neither", Sarabi confessed.

The monkey nodded. "I see. In that case, let me enlighten you." He smiled but there was a hint of sadness in his expression. "As you all know the world, we live in is ruled by your own kind. As long as you, your parents, grandparents and even their grandparents could remember, lions – being the greatest of all predators – ruled as kings and queens. But the tales of old recall further beyond. They tell us of a time when even lions lived in the shadow of an even mightier creature. Back in those days it was the rule of the terrorcats, an ancient race, powerful and cruel. Under their rule everyone lived a lifetime of war. Whenever they met, their wandering kingdoms were fighting for dominance, causing high casualties among their own kind and every creature caught between them. Decades of constant war decimated their population until finally Kifongoma – one of their kings – defeated his remaining rivals in a number of battles and claimed dominion over all the land below the sun. But his victory had come at a price, paid in blood and countless lives. The war had weakened his kind and it would take them ages to regain their former strength in numbers. Fearing other races could overpower them, the king established laws meant to regulate the population of his subjects, so they would never grow strong enough to be a threat. There were strict rules for every species beside themselves."

"And for us lions it was the number of males", Taka concluded and smiled proudly when Rafiki nodded, confirming his guess.

"Yes, Yes! And if that number grew larger…"

"Guys like this Damu came and… corrected it", Taka finished his sentence.

"Indeed." Once more the monkey nodded. "Besides his main pack that was always on the move, he sent out smaller parties to make sure his commands were followed. The leaders of these groups were called inquisitors and Damu was one of them."

"That's disgusting…", Sarafina murmured, while Taka shrugged. _Disgusting_ wasn't exactly the term he would have used. He simply accepted it. It was just the way it had been in those days and no matter how he or one of the others felt about it, they couldn't change it anything about it. Actually, he could kind of understand the way the terrorcats had acted. Not that he approved it, but still… Anyway, it provided material for a decent story so far, so it was fine to him.

It was Sarabi, who finally drove their attention back to the story itself. "How did it continue for Kunja and her cubs. Did Damu keep his word?"

"Yes, my dear", Rafiki said, happy about the opportunity to continue his tale. "Damu left them unharmed, after the poor mother agreed to his terms and eventually, her sons grew up into strong lions."

* * *

_AN: Short explanation at this point. As you may know from the description, DoD is meant to be a story that Rafiki is telling to the young lions of the pride. I intend to put shorter chapters like this featuring him and his listeners between the main chapters in which he answers the questions Taka and the others have about what happened so far (aka questions YOU as the reader might come up with). Thanks to _Nicole-GoddessOfLoki at this point btw. for the reviews on the first chapter. They display the exact trail of thought I hoped to trigger with the chapter ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Revenge **

Heavily panting, he stumbled through the dust the fight had whirled up, away from the bloody corpse of his attacker. In high tension his eyes hurried from one side to the other, searching the area for his allies or other foes.

They had come at his pack without a warning. Five or six, he hadn't had the time to count. The lionesses had instantly retreated, trying to shield and protect the cubs, while the males had stood their ground and met the enemy.

A roar, furious but in triumph sounded not far from him. He exhaled in relief. It was his pack leader's voice. Their foes were defeated, either dead or fleeing.

Slowly, the dust began to settle and the moonlight enlightened the dry savannah. Now seeing clearly, he spotted his pack leader and a few steps further one of his sons. Both were speckled in blood. On the other side of the battlefield he saw the other son. No one else was still standing. Fear crawled back into his mind. One of them was missing! Where was his brother?

"Where… where is…?" The question was aimed at no one specific and he answered it himself as only seconds later his searching gaze stopped at one of the four unmoving bodies that lay on the ground. "Mafuu!" Forgetting his own wounds, he rushed towards his brother… and stopped the moment he saw his face.

The lion's eyes were closed, his expression nearly peaceful. If it hadn't been for the pool of blood slowly dripping from his torn mane, one could have thought he was just sleeping. He had seen many deaths, had even been the cause of some of them. Hyenas, cheetahs, leopards and other lions, ferals and gifted alike, with all sorts of gruesome wounds, but this sight struck him harder than everything he had experienced so far. "No", he whispered while tears formed in his eyes and lay down, placing one paw on the fallen lion's shoulder. There was no mistaking. His brother was no more.

"Oh Taka… I'm so sorry."

He hadn't noticed Dhaka approaching. The pain and compassion in his voice were honest, but the words hardly reached the other lion.

Taka didn't reply. He just lay there with his dead brother, his mind and body turning numb. What was he going to tell their mother? Back then the father he had never known had sacrificed himself for their lives and now… his death had been in vain.

He was still by his brother's side when the lionesses returned. Like with Dhaka, he had neither heard nor seen them coming. Only when one of the lionesses collapsed next to him with a desperate outcry, he noticed them.

"He… he was already dead when I found him", he managed to say and swallowed heavily.

"Oh, my baby… my poor baby!", his mother sobbed, digging her face into her dead son's mane.

"It is my fault", Taka declared with a toneless voice. "If I had stayed closer to him… maybe if I… Now father's death was in vain. I dishonored him. I failed him… I failed you…"

"No!" Kunja lifted her head an looked her remaining son straight in the eye. Her face was smeared with tears and Mafuu's blood. "That's not true and you must never believe it! Your father did what he did to buy both of you the chance to grow up. You both became strong and good lions he would have been proud of to call his sons. And maybe, if one of you had been killed that day, now I would be left with no son at all!"

His mother's words didn't relieve him from the pain but he saw the reason in them, so he didn't reply. Without another word they lay there comforting each other, while the rest of the pack quietly joined them to mourn their fallen companion.

* * *

It was close to midnight, as they snuck towards the other lions' lair. The peace between the two packs had been broken last night and Mafuu's killer had not been among the dead, so their leader had decided to launch a counterattack to get revanche. The fight wouldn't last long, Taka was sure of that. Three of the other lions were already dead, the rest wounded. Quickly, he decided on a target. One of the males, limping on one foreleg and with two deep cuts across his face. He wasn't sure why, but he thought him to be the most likely one to be his brother's murderer. For a moment he heard no other sound than his beating heart as it pumped pure hate and bloodlust through his veins. Then the pack leader gave the signal. Roaring, the four lions busted out of hiding.

The attack hit their enemies with full force. The guards – both females – had little to no time to warn anyone before they were taken down by Dhaka and his brother and as expected, the two males were already too weak to properly defend themselves. Soon they lay in the dirt, dead or dying but Taka didn't let go of his foe. Caught in his rage, he dug his teeth deeper and deeper in the other lion's flesh incapable to decide if the weak movements of the body were a desperate attempt to get free or the twitching of a corpse that had not yet noticed it was dead. His gaze already moved around to find another target as he noticed the den only a few steps away from where he stood… and the wide-open eyes that stared at him from its darkness. Followed by a fearful scream, the small shape of the lion the eyes belonged to emerged from it and darted towards him. He felt a pricking in one of his ears, shook his head, got rid of it and pinned the wriggling being to the ground, raising a paw to finish it off.

"NO!" The voice was so full of fear and despair that it nearly caused him physical pain. "Please no!" Instantly his eyes were on the den again and he looked straight in the tear covered face of a lioness.

Furious, he raised his paw even higher and growled at her. With another outcry, the female made an attempt to crawl out of the den. She shivered with fear. "Leave him be! Take me instead! Oh, please, do with me as you like, but spare him!"

Finally, her pleading reached Taka's head. Slowly, his lips relaxed and covered his bared teeth again and panting he looked down.

The claws of four small paws tried to dig into him, but were hardly long enough to reach his skin. Between his toes, a small fluffy head poked out. He saw a tiny muzzle desperately fighting for air and big eyes nearly popping from the little scull. The eyes… he knew these eyes from only moments ago. They were the same he had seen before his teeth had reached the lions neck that now lay unmoving next to him. He lowered his raised paw and released the pressure from the cub's body.

Gasping, the little one crawled backwards towards the lioness, who now had managed to get out of the den and instantly curled up around her quivering child. She looked at him, with both gratitude and fear. Then her eyes found their way to the corps and she lowered her head while a new stream of tears rand down her face.

"Why?", Taka asked her out of a sudden. "Why did they come for us?"

"To save our pack", the lioness replied though her sobbing. "Three nights ago, an inquisitor came to us. He said, due to the drought the king has lowered population tolerance in our territories. He gave us a week to deal with the problem, or else, he would. We had no other choice. May the dead forgive us…" Shaken by violent hiccups, she pulled her cub even closer and nuzzled him.

The last remains of rage faded from his mind making place for other thoughts. An inquisitor… Terrorcats… Left them no choice… They had seen no other way… And her face… her words… He had no memories of his father's face but now everything on this lioness reminded Taka of him. Slowly, he turned around and walked over to the other males of his pack, who herded the other lionesses of the defeated pack, to tell them what he had just heard.

* * *

_AN: Turns out getting their own paws dirty isn't the only way terrorcats have to get it their way..._

_I had this chapter mostly done a while ago actually but well, you can't put chap 3 before chap 2 right? Anyhow, after a month of what felt like a writing cold turkey I'm back! Exams are over (for now) Woohoo!_


	4. Chapter 4

**The defeated**

"Herded the lionesses?" With a worried expression, Sarafina looked at the monkey. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think I know", Taka murmured under his breath. "And you're not going to like it."

"I'm afraid it means exactly what it sounds like", Rafiki explained. "As you probably have noticed by now, back in these days our world was a much crueler one. Wars like this one between Taka's pack and their neighbors were not uncommon. There were many reasons the packs fought each other, mostly territory and resources like food and water. In this case it was a ruse of the terrorcats. But no matter what had caused the war, in the end it was always the same procedure. When male lions of those days had conquered an enemy's territory by killing all the pack's males, they claimed it by the right of combat with everything that came with it… including the survivors, who were forced into submission. Usually, the pack leader would claim the lionesses of the defeated pack and in some cases offer some of them to his followers. That way, the lionesses were integrated into the victorious pack as the lowest in the hierarchy, forced to bend to every command of their new masters."

"And they were ok with that?" Sarafina shook her head in disbelieve. "How could they? Why didn't they run or try to avenge their mates and their king?"

"Well, for sure many of them whished to do so", Rafiki agreed. "But it rarely occurred that a lioness actually did that. Fighting back was no option for most of them. They were hunter, no warriors like the males and inferior to them in strength and fighting force."

"Still. I'd rather die fighting my mate's murderer than bow to him!", Sarabi declared and proudly raised her head. "I can't believe it was rare this happened. Were they all cowards back then?"

"I know you would, my love", Mufasa said warmly and rubbed his cheek against hers.

"Your words honor you, my dear. But not everyone is as brave as you are", the mandrill explained. "Do not underestimate the fear of death if you haven't experienced it. And we should keep in mind that it requires just as much, if not even more bravery to live and face the hard, new circumstances. To be strong those who would be left behind. A friend, a sister, a cub that would be left motherless. Would you call that cowardice?"

Thoughtfully, Sarabi looked down on her paws.

Side-eying her, Taka could barely hide a grin. He enjoyed it that for once, the seemingly flawless queen-to-be had – in a way – been scolded.

"And what about running away?", Sarafina asked, recalling the first option of her initial question.

Of course, Rafiki had an answer for that too. "A rogue's life was far different than the romanticized view the younger generation of nowadays make it appear", he said. "The life in a pack was already a constant fight for survival. If he was strong and lucky, a male could make it for a while on his own, but for a lone lioness it would have been a death sentence. In those days there was worse to fear than hostile rogues and hyenas…"

Sarafina gulped, imagining all the terrors this ancient world had to offer.

While a moment of silence passed, a thought came to Taka's mind. He cleared his throat. "Uhm, Rafiki, I just remembered something from the scary stories we've been told as cubs. Is it true, that back in the days, when a lion took the throne of another, he continued to kill his predecessor's cubs as well?"

"Don't be ridiculous, brother." Mufasa shook his big head. "Those were fairytales, legends like the Zimwi. Our ancestors weren't as civilized as we are, no doubts, but surely they weren't as cruel as the terrorcats."

Rafiki sighed. "Actually, Taka is not about this. At least not entirely. It wasn't always the case, but sometimes it happened that when a lion usurped another pack leader, he continued to kill the male cubs of the pride to prevent them from taking revenge on him when they grew up. The female cubs were usually allowed to life, mostly as a tool to keep the subdued lionesses in check. You shouldn't be so quick calling something untrue just because it's a legend. There is always some truth in a legend, as unlikely as it may sound."

"No wonder the lioness was so terrified when Taka caught her cub", Sarafina said.

"Well, I guess seeing her mate being killed by him had something to do with it too", the other Taka snorted.

"I guess." Sarabi glared at him, disapproving his tone of voice. "But he spared the cub, didn't he, Rafiki?"

"Yes", the mandrill said, smiling warmly. "And he went even further. When his pack leader decided to grant him two of the defeated lions as a reward for his effort in the fight and as some sort of compensation for his loss, he chose this lioness and her cub to ensure no further harm would come to them."

* * *

_AN: Another short chapter of explaination. What do you think about this way of telling the story so far?_

_Anyway, it is confirmed (if it wasn't entirely clear before), Taka spared the cub from the previous chapter. Anyone who wants to guess his name? Little hint: You probably know him already and he is not an OC..._


End file.
